Tracking, storage and authentication of documented intellectual property

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided including an implementation where a written new idea is reduced to a document, such as a patent application, which can be put through a secure hash algorithm to create a hash of the entire document, or at least a portion thereof. A time stamp is applied to the hash by posting the hash to a website and/or using time stamp hardware having an authentication capability.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of storing documents comprising:
 creating a first hash of a first part of a document, or at least a portion of the first part; 
 creating a first signature hash of a signature associated with the first part of the document, or at least a portion of the first part; 
 forming a first signed hash by combining the first hash and the first signature hash; 
 applying a first time stamp to the first signed hash by posting the first signed hash to a website and/or using time stamp hardware having an authentication capability; 
 combining the first time stamp and the first signed hash to create a first signed time-stamped hash of the first part; 
 creating a second hash of a second part of the document, or at least a portion of the second part; 
 creating a second signature hash of a signature associated with the second part of the document, or at least a portion of the second part; 
 forming a second signed hash by combining the second hash and the second signature hash; 
 applying a second time stamp to the second signed hash by posting the second signed hash to a website and/or using time stamp hardware having an authentication capability; 
 combining the second time stamp and the second signed hash to create a second signed time-stamped hash of the second part; and 
 posting the first signed time-stamped hash and the second signed time-stamped hash as respective blocks on a new blockchain, 
 wherein at least one of the first signed hash and the first time stamp are hashed to create a first signed time-stamped document hash (TSDH) of the first part of the document and the first time stamp, and the first signed TSDH is posted on the new blockchain. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the new blockchain is independent of any other blockchain, which has been used or referenced to create and/or store the document, or the hash, or which has been used or referenced to create the time stamp. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing the first hash of the document and/or second hash of the document in a data storage,
 wherein the data storage comprises a listing of hashes and time sequence of: one or more documents, each of the documents having one or more authors; and/or one or more portions of one or more documents, each of the portions having one or more authors. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the document comprises at least one of: data elements; and/or photographs; and/or images, and/or photographs of written notes and/or prototypes, and/or one or more visual representations and or electronic audio representations and/or files.